I wish to rip vinyl records that are not available on earth except as several hundred pieces of vinyl to FLAC.

[castanea_jo@ni.hil.ist]

@davidgerard the best rips i've heard on archive.org are this guy's sets, so you migth reach out to him or other people on archive whose work you think sounds good? https://archive.org/details/@bob_varney/posts

[hippiegunnut@oldbytes.space]

@davidgerard @etchedpixels the tool for the job would ideally be a thing called a transcription turntable (something like an EMT 927 or Garrand 301) but unless you have enough spare thousands to throw at the job and a home studio with a reinforced floor to install it in then “The best turntable you can afford and a good audio interface” is a reasonable answer. Vinyl playing can get very spendy (and is a rich sourch of audiophoolery) if you want to chase the high end.

[kyle_pegasus@scalie.club]

@errant @davidgerard yeah this is broadly speaking, the right answer. anything from the 80s that says "quartz lock" on it is going to be a better bet than any new thing with a USB port on it

[jakmarcin@mstdn.science]

@davidgerard I have Sony PS turntable, which I use to convert my vinyl records. it can create WAVs, which you can convert to FLACs

[thesquirrelfish@sfba.social]

@davidgerard I am not sure about records but SFPL has a digitization lab you can book by the hour with a bunch of the tech available and experts who can advise - might be worth checking with your local large library to see what they do instead of buying all over again.

[paramnesiac@mastodon.social]

@davidgerard You can spend a lot of time and money getting fiddly with equipment, but you're still not going to get good rips if you don't clean the records first. There's a lot of options out there, but if you know a quality used record store in the area they may be willing to clean them for you for a small fee.

Pick up a needle alignment gauge and a tonearm scale. They're inexpensive. Also get good carbon fiber brushes for the records and the needle.

[paramnesiac@mastodon.social]

@davidgerard Not to belabor the point, but before ripping I would brush the record side, play all the way through listening for pops and clicks (those areas may need additional spot cleaning), brush the side again, then rip.

[davidgerard@circumstances.run]

@hippiegunnut @etchedpixels yeah i recall the IA page on this just using a decent Technics

[sylvhem@eldritch.cafe]

@davidgerard Maybe @vwestlife will have an idea.

[gimulnautti@mastodon.green]

@davidgerard Direct drive turntables have constant speed. Recommend those.
Then you need a good needle. They have very different frequency range / response options. You might want a different type for different music.
There are also two types of needle, moving coil and moving magnet.
Pay special attention to the pre-amp. It’s RIAA filter and circuit are essential to good reproduction. Ideally you want to match your needle type, and probably want a ground lift feature on it.

[gimulnautti@mastodon.green]

@paramnesiac @davidgerard I would go farther: Wash your records with very diluted dish soap solution. You can use the palms of your fingers to gently clean the grooves. Dry them with non-dusting cloth to finish off.

[grmon@chaos.social]

@davidgerard I would go with the vestax handy trax usb. Just do it, better quality can be added later. #allinone

[paramnesiac@mastodon.social]

@gimulnautti @davidgerard Dish soap isn't great for records (most will leave a residue), but you can buy vinyl cleaning solution pretty cheaply. Add a capful to distilled water (NOT tap water) and clean with a soft brush. Always brush the record in the direction of the tracks, not from the center out to the edge. Dry with a dust-free microfiber cloth.

Also, if you're using any liquid solution, watch out that you don't get any on the labels.

[da_kink@defcon.social]

@davidgerard I'd probably opt for something that has a built in phono amplifier. It's not the greatest, but it makes life a lot easier to separate ground loops.

I would suggest investing in a good cleaning solution to remove as much dust crackle as possible. A brush is nice, but a good bath and an antistatic solution will help tremendously in getting a cleaner sound.

[bouriquet@mastodon.social]

@davidgerard I owned one of these cartridges (2002) decades ago. They were made by the company that also designed the master cutting styli for making LPs. They were an awesome product, amazed that someone still has some in stock. The 3002 has an amazing frequency response but comes with a high price

Micro-Acoustics MA 2002-e phono cartridge

Micro-Acoutsics 2002-e 2002e phono cartridge

LP Gear (www.lpgear.com)

Micro-Acoustics 3002 System II cartridge

Micro Acoustics 3002 System II phono cartridge

LP Gear (www.lpgear.com)

[maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza]

@kyle_pegasus @errant @davidgerard I can vouch for this--I've done it with a turntable from the '80s, because I am old and so is my turntable. I recall getting a little mixer and plugging into the microphone jack on my Mac. This was about ~20 years ago. Maybe there is a better way now. A digital recorder?

[michael@westergaard.social]

Don't get a turntable with a built-in ripping function. They produce shit audio files and are shit turntables. Whatever you get should just be a regular turntable and using a computer to do the rip + compression.

I don't rip my records, because I'm not a savage – I play them – so I don't know what is good for ripping.